Paper-cabinet.



PATENTED JAN. 16, 1906.

J. W. MEAKER.

PAPER CABINET.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 11,1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

In Mentor.- Jhu IKJ/zeakcr y v lg rvw 7a isdlltornegd' No. 810,294. PATENTED JAN. 16, 1906.

J. w. MEAKER.

PAPER CABINET.

APPLIOATION FILED JULY 11,1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Witness 619- 13172970607:-

W k i A J5/Llt WJ/(cakfir by 00 A W 'IaLSd/ttorueys UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN MEAKER. OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO MEAKER SALES COMPANY, A CORPORATION or MICHIGAN.

PAPER-CABINET.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 16, 1906.

To all whom it may concern):

Be it known that 1, JOHN WV. MEAKER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in PaperOabinets; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked there on, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to a case or cabinet designed for holding writing-paper in a manner for the convenient use of type-writer operators and to facilitate the assemblage .of the sheets which are to be used for original copies, carbon transfer or copying paper, and sheets on which the carbon copies are to be made in such manner that they may be quickly and readily brought together for insertion into the type-writing machine.

The invention consists in the matters here- I inafter described, and pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrat ing my invention, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a case or cabinet embodying my invention, showing the front cover thereof open. Fig. 2 is a sectional View taken upon line 2 2 of Fig. 1, showing the front cover closed. Fig. 3 is a plan view of one of the re movable shelves of said cabinet. Fig. 4 is a detail section taken on line 4 4 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a perspective View of the cabinet, illustrating a modified form thereof. Fig. 6 is a vertical section of the cabinet shown in Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a plan view of one of the three I upper shelves shown in Figs. 4 and 5. Fig.8

is a detail section taken upon the line 8 8 of As shown in said drawings, A indicates a case or cabinet which consists of connected bottom, top, side, and rear walls and which is open at one end, the open end constituting the front of the cabinet. The top wall a. of the cabinet is, moreover, shorter or made of less depth than the bottom wall a, while the front edges of the side walls a, are inclined upwardly and rearwardly, giving an inclined form to the front end of the cabinet.

B indicates a hinged flap or door which is hinged to the front edge of the bottom wall a and the side margins of which rest against or wall of the cabinet by a hinged connection consisting of a flexible strip B", of cloth or leather. Other forms of hinged joint may be employed to connect the flap with the cabinet; but such hinged joint will preferably be so made as to present a smooth surface when the flap is in its open position. Said flap B is provided at its front edge with a flange or ledge B for a purpose hereinafter set forth.

Within the cabinet the bottom wall thereof is provided with a transverse ledge O, located inside of the front edge of said bottom wall. Said ledge O has its front edge or surface vertical in order that it may constitute a guide or stop surface for the rear edges of sheets of paper placed on the flap B when the latter is in its open position. Within the cabinet are located a series of shelves adapted to receive or support sheets of writing-paper and car bon-paper, and the front margins of which are arranged in stepped relation or with the front margins of the several shelves arranged on a rearwardly-inclined line. Six of these shelves are shown in the drawings D, E, F, G, H, and 1. Of the upper group of three shelves D, E, and F the intermediate shelf E is for supporting carbon-paper, the top shelf D the sheets which are to form the originals, and the shelf F sheets which are to form the carbon copies. Likewise of the lower group G, H, and I the intermediate shelf H is to sup port carbon-paper, the top shelf G paper from which the originals are to be made, and the lower shelf I sheets from which carbon copies are to be made. The upper group of shelves 1), E, and F by reason of the inclined form of the case are shorter than the lower shelves G, H, and I, and said upper set is designed to receive shorter pieces of paper, such as are used for short notes or letters, while the lower set G, H, and I are designed for longer sheets, such as regular letter-paper, or, if the case be sufliciently deep, legal-cap paper. The intermediate shelves E and H of each set are, moreover, arranged to slide freely in the case, so that they may be drawn outwardly, and are provided with handles a h2 at their forward edges. Said shelves E and II, which are designed to support the carbon-paper, are made to slide outwardly from the front edge of the case, so that the sheets of carbon-paper may be easily arranged thereon, it being obvious that inasmuch as said paper is usually thin and flexible, especially after the sheets have been once used, they could not well be arranged by pushing them endwise into the front of the case, so that it is desirable that the shelves to receive them should be capable of being drawn outwardly, thereby enabling the sheets of car hon-paper to be arranged smoothly on said shelves.

The shelves F, G, and I for ordinary writing-paper may be either permanently or movably mounted in the case and are not designed to be ordinarily drawn outwardly to place the paper thereon, inasmuch as a desired number of sheets of paper to be placed thereon may be easily thrust into the case from the front thereof.

The sidewalls a a of the cabinet are shown as made of wood and provided with horizon tal grooves a a on their inner faces adapted to receive the side faces of the shelves D, E, F, G, H, and I, which shelves are shown as made of sheet metal. It will be understood, however, that the case and shelves may be made of any suitable material.

The front edges of the shelves are arranged in stepped or inclined relation, as shown, in order to enable the top sheets of paper of the piles of sheets resting on the several shelves to be easily grasped by the fingers in removing them from the several shelves, it being obvious that as the front edge of each shelf stands rearwardly from the front edge of the shelf below it the front edge of the top sheet is exposed and may be readily grasped by the fingers. In order to provide for likewise exposing the upper edge of the sheet resting on the top shelf D, which isbeneath the top wall a of the case, the front margin of said top wall is cut away at its middle part, as indicated at A. i

In order that the front edges of the piles of sheets on the several shelves D, E, F, G, H, and I may be easily arranged in the same relation to the front edges of the shelves, said several shelves are provided at their rear margins with elevated strips or ledges (Z, e,f, g, h, and i, which strips or ledges form guide shoulders or stops for the rear edges of the sheets, against which said rear edges may be placed in inserting the sheets in the cabinet. Said stops or ledges may be either made adjustable or fixed. As shown in the accompanying drawings, the ledges (Z, e, and f on the three uppermost shelves are designed for shorter paper and are made adjustable with respect to the inner ends of the shelves,which latter are made of such length as to extend to the rear wall of the cabinet when the shelves are placed therein. In the case of the lower or longer shelves G, H, and I said ledges g, h, and i are formed by strips rigidly attached to the top surfaces of the shelves.

Any suitable form of adjusting means may be employed for attaching the adjustable stops d, e, andf to the shelves D, E, and Fas, for instance, the device shown in Figs. 4 and 5 in connection with the upper shelf D may be employed. In this case the ledge (1 consists of a strip of wood secured to the shelf by means of screws d d, which pass through slots 61 (1 formed in the said shelf D in parallel relation with the side margins thereof.

The adjustable ledges (1,0, andf will be so located on the shelves that when sheets of paper of the particular length used by the operator are arranged on the shelves with their rear margins in contact with. said stops their front margins will be adjacent to the front margins of the shelves.

The flap B constitutes a paper-support, and the ledge C at the inner margin of the said flap and the marginal flanges B B at either side thereof form guidesurfaces for the rear and side margins of sheets of paper, by which their edges may be readily made to coincide with each other in arranging the sheets for use in a type-wri ting machine after they have been withdrawn from the shelves. The rear ledge C will be arranged at such distance from the front margin of the flap B that the sheets placed on the latter will project at their front edges beyond or outside of the flap, so that they may be readily grasped by the hand in arranging them and in taking up the group of superposed sheets after they have been arranged. The side flanges or ledges B B similarly serve to facilitate the bringing of the side edges of the paper into coincident relation. The front or outer parts of the sheets will rest on the front flange or ledge B and will be thereby supported above the table or surface on which the cabinet and the flap B rest, thus enabling the said front edges to be more readily grasped by the fingers than would be the case if the said front edges were unsupported by such a ledge and were allowed to drop and rest on such table or surface.

In the use'of the device described the cabinet is filled by placing on the several shelves sheets of letter-paper and carbon-paper, the carbon-paper being placed on the intermediate shelves E and H of each group of three shelves, as hereinbefore described. As these shelves may be drawn outwardly from the case, the carbon-paper may be easily arranged thereon when the same are extended and the same then returned or thrust back into their places in the case. When the paper is to be used, the flap B will be opened or thrown outwardly into the position shown in Fig. 1. To arrange a set of sheets and interposed carbon-paper, a sheet is first drawn from the lowermost shelf, as F or I, of one of the sets of shelves. A sheet of carbon-paper is then. drawn from one of the shelves E or H, and a second sheet of writing-paper then drawn from one of the shelves D or G. As the sheets are drawn outwardly from the shelves they are dropped upon the flap B and their rear edges quickly adjusted by pushing the same against one of the side guide flanges or ledges B B andagainst the rear ledge C, or if the sheets are of the same width as the space between the lateral guide-ledges by merely dropping them between said lateral guide-ledgesand thrusting them back against the rear guide-ledge. The inclined or stepped arrangement of the front edge of the shelves described also enables the sheets to be quickly drawn out together, if desired, it being obvious that the lowermost sheet of a group of three sheets may be first pulled out a short distance, the intermediate or carbon-sheet then pulled out until its front edge is in line with theslpyver sheet, the top sheet then pulled out with its front edge in line with the two lower sheets, and the three sheets then grasped and pulled out together, when they will be allowed to drop upon the flap B and further ar ranged to bring their edges parallel, if this be found necessary.

In the construction of a case or cabinet embodying my invention several parts may be made of wood, metal, or other material, and the details of construction may be modified in various ways without departure from my invention.

Where the shelves, as those marked D and F, which need not necessarily be arranged to slide in and out of the cabinet for the purpose of placing the paper thereon are provided with adjustable ledges or guides for the inner margins of the sheets, said shelves will be made to slide out of the case to afford ac cess to the said guides for the purpose of adj usting the same.

In Figs. 5, 6, 7, and 8 I have shown a form of paper-cabinet which is like that heretofore described and the parts of which are correspondingly lettered in the drawings, with the following exceptions: In this instance the cabinet is designed to receive the sheets of paper, with their longer edges parallel with the front of the cabinet, this construction making thecabinet wider in proportion to its depth from front to rear than would be in the case of the cabinet shown in Figs. 1 to 4 when designed for long pieces of paper, such as legal-cap. In this instance the ledges d, e, f, g, h, and i are arranged at equal distances from the front edges of the shelves corresponding with the width of the sheets used. In this case, moreover, the upper shelves D, E, and F, designed for the shorter sheets, are provided with strips or ledges D, E, and F,

extending from front to rear thereof or parallel with the end walls of the cabinet, and said strips or ledges are made laterally adjustable on the shelves to correspond with varying lengths of shorter sheets. In the particular construction shown and as illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8, which show the ledge D on the uppermost shelf D, the said strip D consists of a piece of sheet metal bent in angular form and secured to the shelf by means of screws (1, which pass through slots (Z in the said shelf.

In the construction shown in Figs. 5 to 8, in which the sheets are inserted sidewise into the cabinet, I have provided means to enable the side edges of the sheet to be easily grasped by the fingers. For this purpose apertures J J are formed in the bottom wall of the cabinet near the front edge margin thereof and between the ends of the ledge C and the side walls of the cabinet, said apertures being located in line with the front surface of the ledge C, so that the side margins of the sheets which are in contact with said ledge C will extend across said apertures. WVhen in this construction the sheets of paper have been arranged on the flap B with their rear margins in contact with the ledge C, the end marginal parts of thesheets which extend across or over the aperturesJ J maybe readily grasped by inserting one or more of the fingers into one of said apertures behind and beneath the rear edges of the sheets. In the construction shown in said Figs. 5 and 6 I have also provided the front margin of the flap B with notches K K, leaving open spaces at the forward margin of the flap, across which the outer side edges of the sheets extend, so that said sheets may be also readily grasped at said outer margins, if desired.

In order to facilitate the arrangement of shorter or smaller sheets on the flap B, I have provided said flap, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, with a shifting or adjustable stop L, which projects only a short distance above the top surface of the flap, so that the longer sheets may rest over it. Said stop L will usually be adjusted to correspond with the position of the strips D, E, and F on the shelves D, E, and F, so that shorter sheets which said guide strips D, E, and F are arranged to accommodate when placed on the flap B will fit or rest between the stop L and the marginal flange E on the opposite side margin of said flap. The adjustable stop L is shown as consisting of a small block or button secured to the flap by means of a screw Z, which passes through a slot Z, formed in the said flap.

As a further improvement the cabinet shown in Figs. 5 and 6 is provided on its top wall a with flanges or ledges forming a receptacle or tray for superposed pieces of paper additional to that afforded by the flap B, such additional receptacle or tray being adapted to receive the sheets after they have IIO been printed. As shown in said Figs. 5 and 6,the top wall a of the cabinet is provided with upwardly-extending lateral edges M M and with a rear ledge M located a short distance forwardly from the rear edge of the said top .wall. Said top wall is also in this instance provided at the ends of the rear ledge M with an aperture N, across which will extend the rear margins of sheets placed against said rear edge and which serve to facilitate the grasping of the rear margins of the sheets in removing them from the cabinet in the same manner as before described in connec tion with the apertures J J in the bottom wall of the cabinet.

A cabinet embracing the features constituting my invention may be modified in practice in various details without departure from my invention.

I claim as my invention- 1. A paper-cabinet embracing connected bottom, side and top walls having an open front inclined upwardly and rearwardly and provided with a plurality of paper-receiving shelves, the front edges of which are arranged in stepped relation, and with a flap hinged to the front edge of the bottom wall and, when swung downwardly into a horizontal position, forming a forward extension of the bottom wall and constituting with the front marginal portion of said bottom wall a paper support, said cabinet also having on its lower wall at some distance inwardly from the edge thereof a ledge forming a stop for the inner edges of sheets of paper resting on the paper support, and the said flap having a lateral guide ledge or shoulder for the side edges of said sheets of paper.

2. A paper-cabinet embracing connected bottom, side and top walls, having an open front inclined upwardly and rearwardly and provided with a plurality of paper-receiving shelves, the front edges of which are arranged in stepped relation, and with a flap hinged to the front edge of the bottom wall and, when swung downwardly into a horizontal position,

forming a forward extension of the bottom wall and constituting with the front marginal portion of said bottom wall a paper-support, said cabinet also having on its lower wall at some distance inwardly from the edge thereof a ledge forming a stop for the inner edges of sheets of paper resting on the papersupport, and the said flap having a lateral guide edge or shoulder for the side edges of said sheets of paper and also a laterally-adjust- JOHN W. MEAKER. Witnesses:

C. CLARENCE POOLE, GERTRUDE BRYCE 

